My two eldest sons are pretty close in age. And by “close” I mean sixty seconds apart. Since I was pregnant with them, I’ve heard “Two for the price of one!” And later I heard, “Homeschooling must be easy for you. You can teach the twins together!”

First of all, I do have other children to teach. My twins were quickly followed by four (soon to be five) siblings. And I think we all know that homeschooling even one child isn’t really “easy.” But second, and perhaps more importantly, having twins or siblings close in age does not exempt me from teaching them as individuals.[Read more…]

Remember those jokes about the parent who would never pull over and ask for directions? That’s me. I would sooner drive to New Jersey on my way to Vermont than pull over and admit I need help.

Parenting and homeschooling is like any journey, once in a while you need a little help, whether it’s directions, words of encouragement or the insight that comes from experience.

A do-it-yourself mentality can complement home learning, but in the past I’ve waited too long to ask for much needed help–whether it’s advice, support or information. I’ve learned that reaching out is imperative for building healthy support systems for our family.[Read more…]

When Jamie proposed this series to us a couple months ago I was stumped for a topic.

Not because I haven’t made mistakes. Of course I have. I just don’t look at life that way – looking back to mistakes, wishing or wondering if I should have done something different.

I happen to be married to an idea-generating, forward thinking optimist (I bring a dose of realism to the mix which makes for an excellent partnership). If I so much as utter, “oh, I wish I would have” or even worse, “that was stupid of me,” I am sure to be stopped in my tracks with a loving reproval from my husband.

I think this is a healthy perspective to have on homeschool mistakes and life in general. And when I am tempted to think “if only” I find it more helpful to face forward with proactive ideas for change instead of looking back.

Lest you think I think I’m perfect (my family will be the first to set you straight!) there have been homeschooling mistakes I’ve made along the way.

I‘ve been homeschooling my three kids, ages 16, 11, and 10, since 2002. Well, technically, I was only officially homeschooling the oldest way back in 2002. That year was not without its mistakes – the biggest of which was thinking that I had to model our homeschool day after a public school day, complete with the Pledge of Allegiance and recess.

Okay, so the Pledge wasn’t so bad, since I wanted my kids to know it, and my daughter definitely enjoyed her midday half hour outside when the weather was nice, but some of the structure was a little over the top for our rather relaxed family.[Read more…]

I used to be a hoarder, stashing away all sorts of goodies for a rainy day. Sometimes, these were fabulous books I had found that I wanted to look over with the kids. I’d read them (in private) and put them away for that perfect time to share. Or I’d acquire some new art supplies, and then store them away for that next great project.

Other times, they were more ordinary things such as math manipulatives or even interesting paper. A big component of my secret collection were the science kits for every subject imaginable, from owl pellets to solar models, carefully hidden away in the garage.

Unfortunately, the rain never came and my wonderful resources just collected dust. Sometimes the perfect opportunity presented itself but I either couldn’t find the time to share the item, forgot where I had stored it, or worse, forgot it even existed.[Read more…]